Europe

ATHENS: German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Sunday said
that the far-right defeat in Austria's
presidential election was "a good omen" for Europe."If the first results are confirmed
this will be a good omen against populism in Europe," Steinmeier who is
to become Germany's next president, at a news conference with his Greek counterpart,
Nikos Kotzias, in Athens. Austria's Norbert Hofer conceded defeat Sunday in his bid to become Europe's first far-right
president, as projections showed he was lagging behind in a bitterly fought
election re-run.Greens-backed independent Alexander Van
der Bellen swept 53.3 percent of the votes against 46.7 percent for his rival
from the anti-immigration Freedom Party (FPOe), according to public television
projections.
Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2016 ...

MOSCOW: Russia's FSB security service said Sunday it had killed an
"emir" of the Islamic State group in the North Caucasus along with four
other militants in a raid in the Dagestan region.The FSB said in a statement that
"among the neutralised bandits was the head of the Caucasus region's branch of the
Islamic State Rustam Aselderov, and four of his close associates."
Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2016 ...

BOBIGNY: A French court on Saturday
upheld a 25 year prison sentence handed to a former Rwandan intelligence agent
jailed in France's first trial over the African country's 1994 genocide.Pascal Simbikangwa was found guilty of
genocide and complicity in crimes against humanity in a landmark 2014 trial
that marked a turning point in France's
approach to genocide suspects living on its soil.Simbikangwa, a 56-year-old former
presidential guard member who insists he is innocent, launched an appeal in
October prompting a six-week trial ...

ROME: Italians went to the polls Sunday in a constitutional referendum
on which reformist Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has staked his future.Whatever the outcome of a vote being
anxiously watched in capitals across Europe and carefully scrutinised on trading floors around the world, it
will lead to change.If the centre-left Renzi's proposals to
streamline a 68-year-old parliamentary system are voted down, he has vowed to
resign.That would usher in a period of
political uncertainty and potential economic turmoil for the country ...

ABU DHABI: French President Francois Hollande vowed Saturday to spend the
final months of his presidency fighting to protect the rights of the most
vulnerable in society and the world.Speaking on his first foreign trip since
announcing he would not stand for re-election, the socialist president also hit
out at the policies of the conservative candidate who is now favourite to
succeed him in May."My decisions as president have
been based first and foremost on protecting," Hollande said, adding that
he had ...

BERLIN: After Donald Trump's shock victory, Francois Hollande's decision
not to seek re-election and populism on the rise, German Chancellor Angela
Merkel is next up on the campaign podium to set out her strategy for winning in
2017 polls.When her centre-right Christian
Democratic Union (CDU) holds its annual two-day congress from Tuesday, she will
seek to rally members behind her bid for a fourth term as Germany's
leader.Merkel has admitted that the general
election, likely to be held in September, will be ...

ABU DHABI: French President Francois Hollande vowed Saturday to spend the
final months of his presidency fighting to protect the rights of the most
vulnerable in society and the world.Speaking on his first foreign trip since
announcing he would not stand for re-election, the socialist president also hit
out at the policies of the conservative candidate who is now favourite to
succeed him in May."My decisions as president have
been based first and foremost on protecting," Hollande said, adding that
he had ...